The men behind JJB's new strategy to be "serious about sport" are not exactly a team of thrusting young bosses likely to be familiar with sporting matters such as the pros and cons of the Nike Tiempo Legend III soccer boot compared with the Adidas Predator, or which shoes to recommend to runners who overpronate.

Instead, they have been dubbed the Dads' Army of retail and, led by a man called Jones, they are on a £16m march.

In the fund-raising prospectus issued last week, it emerged that the four men have each been awarded a £100,000 "one-off special bonus" for their part in organising JJB's new share issue.

However, if their "serious about sport" turnaround plan works, they could make some £4m each from a new incentive plan. Under the terms of the reward scheme, designed "to align the interests of the executive directors with the company's other stakeholders", each man has been awarded 5.9m shares, equal to just under 1% of the company. If targets are met over the three years, the free share stakes could be worth £4m each.

The executives are backed by two non-executives: accountant Alan Benzie, 62, and John Clare, 59, the former retail boss at Dixons who is the senior JJB non-executive and who led the investigation into allegations of conflicts of interest in Jones's personal finances.

Jones has not always appreciated the contribution offered by Benzie, a former chairman of KPMG in the north of England.

In emails released by former chief executive Chris Ronnie, Jones accused Benzie of not being "a man of substance".

Soon they will be joined by others. Apart from a new chief executive – who will also be offered a big share incentive scheme – JJB intends to appoint three more non-executives.